Subtypes of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in childhood
Andrea Pozza, Davide Berardi, Lorenzo Fazzi, Silvio Bendinelli, Alice Maria Cenerelli, Rossella Sterpone, Davide Dèttore
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) subtypes in prepubertal children is an understudied research
area. The Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Child Version (OCI-CV) is a recently developed self-report
tool, which, differently from other existing measures, assesses OCD subtypes in 8 to17-year-old
children and adolescents. However, studies have examined the psychometric properties of the OCICV
in mixed groups composed of children and adolescents, but no study has used only child groups,
although the clinical features of OCD in children are different compared to those in adolescents. This
study investigated factor structure, reliability, concurrent/divergent validity and the incremental and
predictive validity of the Italian OCI-CV in a large non-clinical group of 8 to 11-year-old children.
Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed a three-factor structure without 7 of the original
items: Pure Obsessions, Washing/Neutralising, Hoarding/Ordering. Scores on the OCI-CV Washing/
Neutralising were moderately correlated with measures of OCD and panic/agoraphobia characteristics
and weakly with other anxious aspects and depression. Scores on OCI-CV Pure Obsessions moderately
correlated with measures of depression and anxiety except for physical injury anxiety, whereas scores
on OCI-CV moderately correlated only with OCD characteristics.
Higher scores on the OCI-CV Washing/Neutralising at T0 (β = 0,10, t = 2,56, p < 0,05) but not scores on
the OCI-CV Pure Obsessions and OCI-CV Hoarding/Ordering, predicted higher scores on the SCAS OCD at
one-year follow up.
Differently from previous studies, the Italian version of the OCI-CV showed adequate psychometric
properties with a three-factor instead of six-factor structure, without seven items.
Keywords
Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Child Version, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder,
Children, Psychometric Properties.
